"raw produce, however, has also been linked to recent salmonella outbreaks due to contamination with animal products during harvesting or transport. A 2012 outbreak in cantaloupes sickened nearly 150 people and led to 33 deaths."

Could be anything from greens to fruit. Stuff happens- it's not an indictment of vegetarianism.

"And I have faith that our employees are really great people and communicate honestly with us about illness because they know we have their best interest at heart and will not punish them for being sick."

Of course you won't punish them - you just won't pay them.

We know people who work food service jobs always have a good-sized emergency fund so they can just call up the boss and be all "heeeeey, not feelin' well today, can't come in", right?

We know people who work in food service jobs have a nice big buffer between their disposable income and discretionary expenditures, right? Like, they call in sick, so they decide not to hit the Top Of The Hub that week.

What an amazing disconnect between a privileged, rich business owner and his employees.

The point isn't whether they should or shouldn't come in while sick, it's whether the sick employee should be given sick time aka not docked pay for calling in. Sick pay encourages a healthy operation overall.

Seriously--you sound clueless and incdibly naive about what it takes to actually run a business. Very few restaurant owners are either rich or privileged--the operating margin tends to be very small and the people I know in the restaurant business work harder than anyone else I know. They tend to be, if anything, more connected to their workers--they deal with the backed-up plumbing, the broken dishwasher, etc. etc.--it's not the kind of work where you can stop in once a week, pat everyone on the head and leave. I don't know the owner at Clover personally, but I find your comments offensive and again--hopelessly naive. I hope you're happy to shell out $14 for a sandwich so that all of the places you patronize can meet your high moral standards. Of course you are, I'm sure.

SICK DAYS
We’re determined not to ever get a customer sick. So when you’re feeling sick it’s your responsibility to let your manager know ASAP. Even if it’s just a sniffle we want to know. We will work with you to make sure you get as many hours as you want, but that you’re not working with food when you’re sick.

No paid sick time especially for kitchen help. That's because they're often hired under the table and paid in cash anyway. Sorry to sound cynical but that was my experience when I worked in the restaurant industry. Nobody gave a flying shit whether anyone was sick really.

If you work in most food service or many retail jobs, you have three options:

1) Come in sick
2) Find your own replacement for that shift (hint: this is not possible because everyone who could cover for you has already made plans for their day off)
3) You're granted 52 weeks of unpaid vacation